Houston girls break tie in sub-region with NS
mbrown@sunmulti.com
In a contest to break the first-place tie in a Region 2-AAAAA sub-region, Houston County High’s girls soccer team controlled play in the second half and pulled away from the Northside Lady Eagles 5-1 Thursday at the Lady Bears’ home field.
Jasmine Johnson scored two second-half goals. Houston County, now 3-0 in the sub-region, led 2-1 at the half. The Lady Bear speed ultimately got the better of the Lady Eagles, and so did the defensive backline for coach Sid Baxley that has two players headed to ABAC, Sydney Humphrey and Hanna Wilkes.
Going non-stop from one end to the other was Houston County midfielder Jessica Do. She took her first shot on goal from the top of the penalty box at 35:38 of the first half. Northside’s goalkeeper Centara Nulf saved the ball in the middle.
Still in the first 10 minutes, Taylor Poole and Allison Broeils of Northside worked together for the visiting team’s first shot in the box. A minute later on the other end, Johnson drew a tripping foul 25 yards away from the goal. Do lined up for the free kick, but Nulf made the catch at 33:42.
Do and Johnson presented a serious quickness challenge to Northside, and so did Liz Upchurch. Jamie Epperson and Mathilda Thomassen were among those keeping the Lady Bears in check through the first 20 minutes of the half.
Kiara West, Rachel Preston and Olivia Walters stroked numerous long, high lead passes upfield. Kaylee Bromell ran one down on the right wing at 24:32, but her shot was denied.
Houston would earn a corner kick at 22:36 on Preston’s charge down the right side. Anna Maddox, the anchor of the Lady Eagle defense, used her head to clear the ball away from Nulf.
As the next 20 minutes of the first half began, Northside survived two more close scoring chances for the home team. Outside midfielder Kesley Barton of the Lady Eagles brought the soccer ball to her scoring end, and Houston goalkeeper Brook Neville had her first save on a kick from 28 yards away.
Houston’s Karissa Engram and Brittany Greene would miss an open net at the 14-minute mark as another lead-in pass in the right corner stayed in play along the baseline. Maintaining possession, Do ended the scoreless game by putting the ball through at 12:26.
The Lady Bears came too close to giving the point back through an ‘own goal’ at 11:16. Northside couldn’t take advantage of the ensuing corner kick, and soon thereafter Houston took a 2-0 lead as Upchurch used a 1-on-1 attack to score.
It was at 3:26 that Northside earned a corner kick and got back into the match. Barton sent the kick close to the goal, and Maddox tipped it in for 2-1.
Humphrey had a strong half marking Poole. But at 1:40, Poole was able to kick the ball past the sweeper and charge towards a tying goal. Neville was there for the save, and the match stayed 2-1 for the half.
All but the last few minutes of the second half belonged to Houston County. Upchurh, at 38:30, took the first shot from about 20 yards away, Nulf making the save. Four minutes into play, Upchurch did her flip throw in to a crowd of players in the middle of the box. Barton had to clear the ball.
The Lady Bears kept it, and at 34:19 Wilkes, Do and Preston set up Johnson for a short-range goal (3-1).
Nulf saved a shot from Do, who was bothered defensively by Kaitlin Sleight, at 24:40. Greene’s try off Engram’s crossing pass at 23:55 was also caught.
At 11:50, Johnson scored her second goal by winning a goal kick. She later looked for an assist to Upchurch (10:40), but Nulf had that save. The keeper denied Preston 15 seconds later.
Bromell scored on the run at 5:51 to conclude the day’s action.
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